Do You Go Online More Often With a Smartphone?

Answer: Yes. With so much of the wonderful worldwide web at your touch-screen-connected fingertips, you're probably going online several times more on a given day than when you had a dumb phone. And if you're like one-third of Americans, you're taking your first web break before you even get out of bed.

What's the first thing you do every morning? Hop in the shower? Grab a glass of water? Hit the porcelain throne?

According to a study from Ericsson ConsumerLab (PDF), about one-third of you reading this should have answered that question with "Open up a smartphone app." Ericsson found that 35 percent of smartphone owners in the U.S. open up a non-voice application before removing the covers.

Checking Facebook is the most common activity, with 18 percent of social networking users logging in to their personal accounts "while their heads are still on the pillow," according to the 18-month survey. "Apps for news, weather and even Craigslist are all becoming a part of the morning routine for U.S. smartphone users," the survey found. "After getting out of bed, among those who use such services, 23 percent access the Internet via their browsers, and 24 percent check their mail."

It's part of a bigger trend, according to the study. Smartphones open up the opportunity for users to get online in frequent, short bursts. It's a stark contrast to pre-smartphone days, when web use was relegated to big, sparse chunks of time spent in front of a computer.

In our limited experience, the Ericsson study is right-on. Before my first smartphone, a Blackberry in 2007, I was online in big chunks, usually in the morning and afternoon before and after class. But now, as soon as I hear my alarm (also on my phone), I reach over to check my emails. If I'm having a particularly sleepy morning, I'll even check Facebook before I get up.

How about you? Does your smartphone compel you to open up apps in the early A.M.? Are you checking in with the web in short bursts all day? Tell us in the comments!